Under the Ohio Administrative Code Section 5122-33-23, as someone who lives in an adult care facility (ACF), you have:

The right to live in a safe, healthy, clean and decent place;

The right to be treated with courtesy and respect all the time because you are a human being with your thoughts, opinions, likes and dislikes;

The right to practice whatever religion you choose or to not practice any religion at all;

The right to manage your own money;

The right to have your own clothing;

The right to own and use things that belong to you, within reason, because you are a human being with your own thoughts, opinions, likes and dislikes;

The right to join in on activities and to use the common spaces of the facility where you live;

The right to do activities you’re interested in or choose not to do activities, within reason;

The right to communicate privately without anyone stopping you. You have the right to get and send mail that is sealed. You have the right to use the telephone, within reason, to have a private conversation. You have the right to have private visitors at any reasonable hour;

The right to do things in the community, including taking part in community groups and their activities if you want to or if the community group asks you to;

The right to complain to the manager of the ACF, to any government agency or to any other person without being punished;

The right to visit the facility before you move in, either by yourself or with your sponsor;

The right to keep getting services from any health care provider or social services provider, if you pay for it;

The right to refuse medical treatment or services, or if you have a guardian, the right to have your guardian make decisions about your medical treatment and services;

The right to not be abused, neglected or exploited (used in an unfair or selfish way);

The right to not be physically tied down;

The right to not have your legal rights taken away just because you live in an ACF;

The right to look at records the ACF keeps about you, if you ask for them;

The right to have your personal records kept private and the right to say if you want to give your records to anyone outside the facility, unless you move to a new ACF, nursing home, residential care facility, home for the aging, hospital or other health care facility or unless the law requires it or a company requires it before they will pay for your services;

The right to be told in writing how much the facility charges, including any extra fees, and to be told thirty days ahead of time in writing if the charges or fees change;

The right to have your case manager and sponsor told if there are big changes in your health or behavior;

The right to share a room with your husband or wife, if you both live at the same facility;

The right to not be locked out of the facility. If the facility is locked during the day at any time, you must be given a key or a staff member must be there to open the door right away;

The right to not be locked in the facility at any time for any reason. If a door can be locked, you must be able to open it from the inside without a key; and

The right to not be kept by yourself or have food or other services kept from you to punish you, get you to do something, make things easier for someone else or because the ACF manager or staff member did not follow directions in the mental health plan for your care.

Each adult care facility must write down a residents’ rights policy that includes:

A list of your rights and the things you must do under those rights; and

The text of any extra rules the facility makes for residents.

The facility must have a way to help residents stand up for their rights.

When you are admitted into the facility, the manager must give you and your sponsor a copy of the residents’ rights policy. They must explain the policy to you.

Each ACF must post a copy of the residents’ rights in an area where it can be seen easily. They also must post the addresses and telephone numbers of the state long-term care facilities ombudsperson, the regional ombudsperson and the central and district offices of the department.

The law says other people are allowed to stand up for your rights on your behalf, too. These people include a sponsor, the director of mental health, the director of aging, a registered residents’ rights advocate and people who work at a mental health agency or serve on a mental health board.